NO. Not even remotely.
Remember the song was written FOR her voice, for what it sounded like, for its range and power and timbre, for what it can do. It's not as if Krieger and Eyen handed her the finished song and she just sang it. They heard her and were totally blown away by her and set out to construct a song to exploit all of the things that she could do that few other singers have ever been able to. It's not just her signature song -- the song is her and she is the song. Her performance goes beyond definitive -- those slides and growls were written into the score after their first draft of the song once they heard how she interpreted the initial version.
You'd never have made such an utterly uninformed comment had you ever witnessed her perform the song live in the show. I've seen nearly every other Effie and dozens of others over the years do the song and NO ONE is even in the same ballpark. Holliday OWNS the song now and forever and if you don't like "her version" you don't like the song as it is intended to be sung. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
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"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 3/3/05 at 02:39 AM